Bye, the beloved country - why almost 40 percent of Israelis are thinking of emigrating

I think the promised land is USA now.I wonder if the settlers going to broaden there horizon.

The sooner this apartheid state fails the better. And mark my words, it will fail. Apparently, 40 percent of you already see the writing on the wall.

It's good to see Haaretz so desperate.

this country does not give opportunities to people to make a living. Education is of very low standards compared to european or american AND LASTLY AND FOREMOST OUR CHILDREN ARE NOT GIVEN THE BEST UPBRINGING I can't wait to go already till a jewish state with jewish leadership emerges and peace with our half brothers palestinians is estabilished

As an American and a military vet, I am sad to hear of this news. When you think of the mamouth price paid, not only from the jewish world community but from dozens of countries that put their own interests aside to protect the most vulnerable and hated country in the world. And after all that...almost half the country doesn't even want to be there? The worst part is its mostly about money. It makes me want to vomit. As a US citizen, I could be out of a job, homeless and have 50 cents in my pocket and the thought of leaving my country would never enter my mind. Im starting to wonder if supporting Israel is really worth the high price the US has had to pay the last 15 years or so. Not to mention, being Israel's only friend has made us the second most hated country in the world.

If Jews can leave at the drop of a hat, then perhaps it's time for the Palestinians, with true devotion to the land, should return in their place.

The question in the survey is misleading and I'm sure most people questioned thought it meant going abroad for 2-3 years for temporary work or studies after which they would return home to Israel. I'm saying this because I presnted several young people with the main question of the survey and they understood the Hebrew word "lagoor" as temporary relocation not as emigration.

sane people for warmongering militant nationalistic religiously chauvinistic society.

There is something intrinsically wrong with the nature of a large segment of the Jewish People.The lessons of history,have,evidently had no long lasting effect on the psyche of this People, otherwise how can you explain their failure to comprehend the changing attitudes of the world at large ?

it is still the weak and selfish who leave and don't return. plenty of Israelis subsisting on one income to raise stronger families.

If every Jew left Israel, to be accepted happily by Canada, USA, Australia, European nations etc what a happy day that would be for the Palestinians and every other peaceloveing person on the globe!

Such a long article and very few facts. Understandably, since as far as I can ascertain there are no precise figures for any of this. Officially, an emigrant from Israel is one who has been out of the country for over two years, (half a million) and as so many Israelis go abroad to study, or on a contract for a few years, this means nothing at all. That those already abroad (the real subject of the article) waver, is obvious. As for the observation (not more than that, therefore) that the majority of those who leave are of Ashkenazi origin, and more highly educated, this too is patently the case - the others would have no chance of either residence permits of work. The article therefore proves nothing but that people quizzed in such 'enquiries' (those relating to sensitive subjects) rarely speak frankly, but underlines the fact that if the country continues as at present (constant warfare, limited economic opportunities, and - not mentioned in the article- a geopolitical environment chronically unstable,) emigration of young, talented Israelis is bound to increase.

When $billiions are spent on building the infrastructure of settlements and subsidising the lives of the settlers it is little wonder that Israelis who are not right-wing extremists see little future in this country. The economy is completely skewed and any intelligent young person will question the wisdom of trying to build a life in such a place.

It will never be accepted in this day and age.....No way! There is already a ground swell against it in the US & EU. It will not succeed. People can take that to the bank today. Dutch

Now that Netanyahu no longer needs to carry this bag of garbage around, perhaps he can now behave as a statesman and make finally peace with the Palestinians.

Whatever Israelis might tell survey researchers, from my contacts with young, highly educated Israelis I know the main reason so many think of leaving is the never-ending conflict over Palestinian rights, and how that has affected the country's image, rightly or wrongly. They just don't want to deal with bomb shelters, reserve call-up's, targeted assassinations, and the heavy fiscal and psychological toll the matzav exacts,

My sense is that like the U.S. Israel's priorities are all mixed up. The trend toward privatization is beneficial to a small segment of the population---the wheeler-dealer moneyed class who dominate the political arena. This means that the health (economic, social, educational, political etc.) of the political-territorial community as a whole is sidetracked to benefit the few. The decline of the middle class is one of the indices of privatization---so is the decline in education and the rise in poverty. No nation-state is an island---to exist a state needs to engage in commerce across borders, and must harmonize its productive capacity to compete with other states, or perhaps more importantly to complement in creative ways its productive capacity with that of other states. Israel is handicapped by its narrow ideological definition of self in relation to the rest of the world. In order to preserve this ideological identity it has to rely on being a strong military presence in the region and beyond wherein its actions have alienated the feelings and support of the majority of states in the UN. It seems to me that as in the U.S., Israeli life is polarized between a narrow self-definition characterized by a vision of exceptionalism + militarism on the one hand, and on the other hand the essence of communal life comprising healthy families in healthy communities. Without the latter a state will lose its vitality, and migration could be a symptom of such a loss..

We need only Zionists to leave for ever to their newly occupied huge country called the Zion Empire of America. Bani Israel or the real Jews can stay and live with their cousins the Palestinians happily ever after.

The West is no longer a world of opportunity except for those who come from exceedingly poor and backward countries, and then they get exploited. I am surprised about the two young men in Toronto. Even Canadian-born young students have difficulty finding jobs these days. It could take two years after graduation, then the job turns out to be underpaid and it takes ages to pay your student debt. But as an advanced economy, Israel will have vast opportunities in the Middle East. Get rid of your current politicians, replace them with ones who know how to deal with the world, and accept the Arab peace plan. And Hey, presto